Wednesday, 

Ex-President Sarkisian’s Nephew Charged With Attempted Murder

        • Anush Muradian

Armenia -- Hayk Sarkisian, a nephew of former President Serzh Sarkisian, is 
detained by law enforcement officers, Yerevan, 4 July, 2018.

A nephew of former President Serzh Sarkisian has been charged with attempting 
to kill a man in Yerevan more than a decade ago, an Armenian law-enforcement 
agency said on Wednesday.

The man, Davit Simonian, was shot and wounded in April 2007. Another Yerevan 
resident claimed at the time to have accidentally fired a bullet at Simonian 
from a pistol which he allegedly found lying in a street. The criminal case was 
closed shortly afterwards.

Armenia prosecutors ordered a renewed investigation into the incident earlier 
this month, citing “new circumstances” that have emerged lately. The 
Investigative Committee claimed on July 3 that in fact Simonian was shot by the 
ex-president’s nephew, Hayk Sarkisian, at the basement of the latter’s 
residence in the city center. Sarkisian was detained and held in custody for 
several hours the following day.

A spokeswoman for the Investigative Committee, Sona Truzian, said he has now 
been formally charged with attempted murder and illegal arms possession. 
Investigators have asked a court to allow them to keep him under pre-trial 
arrest, Truzian said.

It was not clear whether Hayk Sarkisian denies the charges. He was first 
detained immediately after officers of another law-enforcement agency, the 
National Security Service (NSS), searched his family’s vast apartment in 
downtown Yerevan.

Following the nine-hour search, the NSS issued an arrest warrant for Hayk’s 
elder brother Narek, who appears to have fled Armenia. It claimed that the 
latter asked one of his friends late last month to hide his illegally owned 
guns, cocaine and other drugs in a safer place.

According to the NSS, Narek flew to Moscow on June 22 together with his 
bodyguard, Artem Petrosian, who was also wanted by the investigators. A 
spokesman for the security agency told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Petrosian 
returned to Yerevan and turned himself in on Tuesday.


Armenia -- Aleksandr Sarkissian is detained by investigators, Yerevan, 4Jul2018.
Hayk and Narek are the sons of Serzh Sarkisian’s brother Aleksandr, who is 
better known to the public as “Sashik.” He has repeatedly caused controversy in 
the past with his flamboyant behavior and insults addressed to critics of 
Armenia’s former governments.

Aleksandr Sarkisian, who is thought to have made a big fortune in the past two 
decades, spent several hours in police custody on June 25 on suspicion of 
illegal arms possession. He was again briefly detained during the NSS’s July 4 
raid on his luxury residence.

Also facing prosecution is the ex-president’s second brother, Levon Sarkisian. 
He and his daughter were charged with “illegal enrichment” after tax inspectors 
discovered in late June that they hold millions of dollars in undeclared 
deposits at an Armenian bank.

A Yerevan court issued an arrest warrant for Levon Sarkisian on Saturday. He 
has still not been arrested, however, suggesting that he may have fled the 
country.

Serzh Sarkisian, who governed Armenia from 2008-20018, has not yet publicly 
commented on the criminal proceedings launched against his close relatives.


U.S. Hopes For ‘Impartial’ Audit Of Armenian Mining Project

        • Emil Danielyan

Armenia - Gold mining facilities constructed by Lydian International company at 
Amulsar deposit, 18 May 2018.

The U.S. government expressed hope on Wednesday that an environmental audit of 
a massive gold deposit in Armenia developed by a U.S.-based company will be 
conducted objectively and “in strict accordance with the law.”

It said it also expects the new Armenian government to carry out similar 
inspections of other mining companies operating in the country.

All roads leading to the Amulsar deposit have been blocked since June 23 by a 
group of residents of nearby communities protesting against gold mining 
operations planned there by the Lydian International company. They thus halted 
the multimillion-dollar construction of Lydian’s mining facilities which was 
due to be completed this fall.

The blockage is continuing despite repeated appeals from Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian. He has said that Lydian must be allowed to resume its operations 
pending the findings of an ad hoc government task force that will start 
inspecting the company soon.

The mining site remained blocked even after Pashinian visited the mountainous 
area about 160 kilometers southeast of Yerevan last week. He met with leaders 
of the protest and senior executives of the company employing more than 1,400 
people. Many of those workers are also local residents.


Armenia -- Protesters block a road leading to Amulsar mine, 2Jul2018.
Commenting on the continuing standoff, the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Richard 
Mills, said: “We are pleased the government is conducting an environmental 
audit of Lydian’s Amulsar project, which was requested by those concerned with 
the project’s environmental impact and which must be standard practice for such 
projects.”

“We hope that it will be carried out in strict accordance with the law, 
engaging professional and impartial expertise. We also expect that these audits 
will be unilaterally applied across the mining sector,” Mills added in written 
comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

Pashinian promised in late May thorough inspections of “all metal mines” aimed 
at verifying and, if necessary, ensuring their compliance with environment 
protection norms and their tax obligations. He went on to assign that task to 
Artur Grigorian, the new head of an environment protection government agency.

Grigorian is a well-known environmentalist who has for years campaigned against 
the Amulsar project. He said late last month that Lydian will be the first 
company to be audited by a working group formed by him.

The group comprises officials from various Armenian government ministries, 
Lydian representatives as well as non-governmental activists strongly opposed 
to gold mining at Amulsar. It is supposed to submit recommendations to 
Pashinian’s government later this month or in August.

Pashinian said on July 6 that the government’s decisions on Amulsar must be 
based on “facts rather than emotions.” “If we make any unlawful step in this 
situation – even one that is deemed unlawful not necessarily from our 
standpoint but at least from the point of view of international relations – we 
may face major problems,” he warned.

Lydian, which claims to have already invested more than $300 million in 
Amulsar, has not ruled out the possibility of international legal action 
against the Armenian state that had granted it exclusive rights to mine gold 
there. It says that it has already lost at least $14 million as a result of the 
continuing disruption of its operations.

Environment protection groups say that the Amulsar project, if implemented, 
will contaminate air, water and soil in the area. They also point to the site’s 
proximity to Jermuk, the country’s most popular spa resort.

Lydian maintains that it will use advanced technology to prevent any damage to 
the local ecosystem. The company is registered in a British tax haven but 
headquartered in the U.S. state of Colorado. Its shareholders include U.S., 
Canadian and European investment funds as well as the European Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).


Armenia - Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian (second from left) and U.S. 
Ambassador Richard Mills (R) visit the Amulsar gold deposit, 15Aug2015. (Photo 
courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan).

The mining project has been supported by the U.S. and British governments. 
Mills expressed confidence in 2016 that Lydian “will continue to serve as an 
example of responsible mining, operating transparently in line with 
international environmental and social standards.”

“Mining in Armenia is an opportunity to diversify the nation’s economy and 
increase the number of well-paying jobs, but only if mining operations are 
conducted to the highest international standards to protect the environment,” 
the U.S. ambassador said on Wednesday. “That is why the U.S. Embassy welcomed 
the interest in the Armenian mining sector from Lydian International, which 
operates mining projects around the globe that must meet international 
environmental standards.”

Mills did not say whether he thinks the Pashinian government’s possible 
decision to revoke Lydian’s operating license could hurt U.S.-Armenian business 
ties and scare away other foreign investors.

Lydian has pledged to invest over $400 million in what would be one of the 
largest business projects in Armenia’s history. It has said that it plans to 
produce roughly $250 million worth of gold and pay $50 million in taxes 
annually.

Armenia’s overall exports stood at $2.2 billion in 2017, according to official 
statistics. Non-ferrous metals and ore concentrates accounted for around half 
of them.


Pashinian Meets French President On First Trip To Europe As PM


Belgium - French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Armenian Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian meet at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, .

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian emphasized the “privileged” character of 
Armenia’s relationship with France when he met with French President Emmanuel 
Macron in Brussels late on Wednesday.

Joined by their foreign ministers, the two men held talks on the sidelines of a 
NATO summit in the Belgian capital. Pashinian was due to attend a session of 
the summit focused on the ongoing NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. The 
multinational military contingent deployed there includes 130 or so Armenian 
soldiers.

Macron and Pashinian exchanged warm greetings in English at the start of the 
meeting held at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. The French president could 
be heard saying in front of TV cameras that he is “very happy to see” the 
Armenian premier.

An Armenian government statement cited Pashinian as saying that “Armenia highly 
appreciates its privileged relations with France based on traditional 
friendship and mutual respect of the two peoples.”

For his part, Macron was reported to say that France is ready to deepen 
economic and political ties with Armenia. He also said he looks forward to 
paying a state visit to Yerevan in October.

The visit will be timed to coincide with a summit of Francophonie, a grouping 
of over 70 mainly French-speaking nations, which will be held in the Armenian 
capital.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Yerevan in late May to 
discuss with Armenia’s new government preparations for the summit. Le Drian 
stressed the fact that he is the first high-level foreign official to arrive in 
the South Caucasus state since a popular uprising that swept Pashinian to power 
earlier in May.

Macron was likewise the first Western leader to meet Pashinian during the 
latter’s first-ever trip to Europe in his current capacity.

According to the government statement, the two leaders also discussed the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, with Pashinian praising international efforts to 
resolve it which have long been spearheaded by the United States, Russia and 
France. Pashinian also warned against Azerbaijani attempts to solve the 
conflict militarily. No other details were reported.


Press Review



“Zhamanak” looks forward to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s visit to Brussels 
which begins on Wednesday. “Not only the new [Armenian] government must be 
qualitatively different from the previous one in terms of policies but also the 
European Union’s policy must be qualitatively different from its policy towards 
the previous authorities,” writes the paper.

“Zhoghovurd” reports that Samvel Babayan, Nagorno-Karabakh’s former military 
leader who was released from an Armenian prison last month, visited Stepanakert 
and met with Karabakh President Bako Sahakian on Tuesday. “This is a noteworthy 
event given Babayan’s personality and the fact that recently the political 
situation in Artsakh was a bit tense and Bako Sahakian assured [the local 
population] that he will not run in the 2020 presidential elections,” says the 
paper. “One can presume that Mr. Babayan has certain political interests seeing 
as political issues were also discussed at his meeting with Bako Sahakian.”

“Hraparak” comments on Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian’s first meeting 
with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov scheduled for Wednesday. The 
paper says that the meeting will be “decisive in terms of the continuation of 
negotiations” on a Karabakh settlement. It says that bellicose statements 
coming from Baku and recent Azerbaijani military exercises do not bode well for 
the success of renewed peace talks.

“Haykakan Zhamanak” reports on the prosecution of Serzh Sarkisian’s nephew Hayk 
on charges of attempted murder and illegal arms possession. “This is setting a 
new bar in the work of the new government,” writes the paper. “Until now there 
have been suggestions that in the fight against abuses [committed by the former 
regime] there is a red line which the government will not dare to cross and 
that red line is imprisonment of Serzh Sarkisian’s relatives. But in the event 
of Hayk Sarkisian’s arrest it will become evident that there is no such line.”

(Tigran Avetisian)





Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org